Thanks Cable, for getting me through the summer....

Hot nights, sometimes home before 9pm, sometimes not. Too muggy outside any time of day. What to do??

How about summer series on cable?

Not sure why my television series viewing has increased in the past year or so. Age? No motivation to stimulate my mind? Well, here's the Witham (Rob) summer report on TV Summer Series. (Bonnie would disagree on some of these, that's why the Rob is beside Witham).

MUST SEE UNLESS IN BED COMATOSE: The Closer, TNT

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Monk, USA (I watch sometimes, other times not. It can be very funny, and I should make myself actually watch it more to realize there are people dealing with OCD facing more challenges than I do. I'm not joking here.

NEVER SAW, NEVER CARED: Saved, TNT

OVERHEARD ONE NIGHT, SAW AN OLD TV GIRLFRIEND: Eureka, Sci-Fi Channel

WHEN YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE THE ROOM, TURN ON: Psych, USA

I WATCHED SEVERAL EPISODES AND STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON: The 4400, USA

WHY DID IT TAKE ME SEVERAL YEARS TO REALIZE THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD SHOW?: The Dead Zone, USA

Otherwise, the only shows getting my rapt attention this summer were Match Game '75 and Letterman, as they are on as my prepare to kinda sleep (and some nights they're on when I get home....)

"Without Mom??"

I made a breakthrough Monday. Without telling a soul, for about three days I planned to surprise the kids on the Monday I took off to babysit them to take them to Busch Gardens. No one knew. Mom didn't, kids didn't, not even Nancy Grace or Oprah.

So, I get stuff about ready, ask the kids to meet me in the front foyer, have them close their eyes, and when they open them, their passports are in front of them.

When they realized I was taking them to Busch Gardens....Rachel said....

"Without Mom?"

See, even when they get some Dad time (which is unfortunately all too rare), look who they think of first.

No wonder all the athletes on TV look at the camera after scoring the touchdown or hitting the home run and say....

"Hi Mom!!!"

Various Friday night ramblings....

Going back to our August 15th post, I heard from my friend and her mom is doing well. Please keep up the prayers, and thanks!!

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With all the reflection on Katrina this week, and soon on 9/11, the media seems fixated on the subject of safety. Are we safe? They ask that question over and over.

There's a simple answer. No. We will never be completely safe in this world.

Now that we have that established, let's focus awhile on a region that is getting NO continual replay or live reports on the CNN's of the world. Read this, and see why apparently 250,000 dead aren't enough for forces to settle their differences.

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Oh, and while innocent Lebanese and Sudanese children are wondering if they'll see tomorrow, much less another birthday, Americans are most interested in.....

.....what Eva Longoria will wear on the red carpet Sunday night.

No wonder, as Glenn Beck calls him, "President Tom" over in Iran actually thinks we can be defeated. Our priorities are so out of whack right now, it's not funny.

And, while we're pouring it on....ENOUGH WITH THE RAMSEY COVERAGE!!! Sad story, does NOT deserve hours and hours on TV.

Has Fox or MSNBC alerted you to this heartbreaking, bittersweet story from Utah??

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---end of first set of various thoughts and rantings.....

And that was the week that was....

1) No update on my last post; I will keep you informed.....

2) Emotionally and mentally, this was a very, very trying week. When this era of my life is done, I hope that whatever I am experiencing right now will make me a much better, more mature person. And if the growing equals the growing pains, I oughta be MUCH wiser once this season is done.

3) More sleeping this weekend, work today, but I'm OFF tomorrow, because, frankly, we couldn't find a babysitter. So, I'm the emergency relief pitcher. Hope the day goes well. Wonder what'll happen???

4) Let's give our Senator George Allen a round of applause for his representation of the Commonwealth. "President Allen" is most likely gone, and remaining "Senator Allen" looks like it's going to be a fight.

So, Chuck Robb gets massaged. George Allen gives the wrong message. If Mark Warner really wants to live at the White House, he should simply keep his mouth shut and his eyes from wandering.

5) The New York Football Giants, looking good in their preseason win over KC. The first team, that is. God forbid Eli Manning get hurt, though.

AND FINALLY......coming up:

Robbie's orientation at high school. My next trip to the shrink. (I'm sure both of them are connected in some way.....), and the most important week of NFL preseason football.

Continue to pray for Mel and her Mom, and, if you get an extra moment, pray that I'd follow the advice and example of the Apostle Paul, who learned how to be content where he was (Philippians 4:10--14), so that I can be content where I am. Specifically in one arena in my three-ring circus called my life. :)

PS---Note the NLT, in verse 11, where Paul says "get along happily". In other words, there's more to being content than simple contentment. First you must accept where you are. That's simple contentment. But can you like it?? If you can, that's real contentment. I'm working on it.

I hate cancer, so PLEASE pray, ok?!?!

Got an email today from a co-worker, sending me an email she received from a co-worker from my wonderful days on Church Hill at WRVA.

Her mom is suffering with cancer. Symptoms are very similiar to a road I walked with my mama four years ago.

So, could you please, please pray for "Missy and her Mom"??

God will know who you're talking 'bout. :)

I appreciate it very much.

Wrestling absolutely STINKS right now!!!

Figures.

I've watched wrestling since, well, who knows when.

I pretty much stopped when "24" returned last January. The Closer then came on for the summer, also 9pm Monday, and that was cool, too.

But, then, my son suddenly gets really interested in wrestling. I do read a website, so I know what's going on in wrestling by reading for ten minutes rather than wasting hours. We are two ships passing in the night.

So, in an effort to better connect with him, I'm at least trying to keep after it more (especially since some content is not good).

As Glenn Beck would say, this is what I know:

1) Championship belts mean nothing.

2) Storylines are mostly horrible.

3) Why? They're not built around the wrestlers and their feuds anymore.

4) Chairmen of wrestling organizations should NEVER wrestle or place himself/his family into storylines.

5) Wrestlers who were world champions when I was in high school (as opposed to my son!!) should retire.

Ric Flair is my all-time favorite singles wrestler. Ric, retire. Have a final story constructed for you that will allow you to push a future star, yet leave a winner. I know you could construct one; but that McMahon guy probably won't let you.

Hulk Hogan. Enough. There are artificial parts in your body now. Thanks for the memories.

I do wish good luck to TNA, who seem to be more interested in wrestling action rather than "sports entertainment". But any promotion that's centered around Jeff Jarrett will never survive for long.

Whatever happened to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling??? Give me Johnny Weaver, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole and Gene Anderson), Swede Hanson, Rufus R "Freight Train" Jones, Wahoo McDaniel, and a young Ric Flair any day!!

A Free Flow of Thoughts That Will Not Flow....

There's just so much going on right now......but I'm gonna ramble incoherently about some of them......

1) I'm glad this week is done. Several reasons, none worth wasting your time with.

2) Years ago, I would have spent hours and hours preparing for our annual POF Draft (POF = Professional Offensive Football), our fantasy league which briefly ran in the mid 80s and returned in full force in 1997. So, this is our tenth anniversary season! Tonight I printed out information online, and my draft prep was complete...in a matter of, oh, ten minutes.

3) That doesn't mean I don't care; I just don't have time. Rats!

4) RIP Bob Thaves. What an underappreciated comic strip. One of my favorites growing up. His son will keep it going.

5) Go Glenn Beck! August 22nd, people. Get ready. I already have my August 21st agenda set, so I can enjoy my last day on earth.

As you correctly thought, I won't be getting out of bed. Except to go potty and hit the fridge. :) :)

Give Beck credit for this---his August 22nd "chatter" is based on some interesting, credible sources. But, when August 23rd comes and you're laughing at him when he's on TV, if you stop and think a moment, you'll realize you should stop laughing.

I've learned more about the SCOPE of current worldwide issues and how they are essentially part of the same board game in the past several days than I will watching CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. They're more worried about breaking the news first and making sure you see the bombs on their channel.

Good work, Glenn. Keep it going.

I just wish we could get Jack Bauer out of China before 8/22.

FINALLY-----

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago Thursday (August 10). This thing is fun. It's a great release, a tiny soapbox in the universe. And, I think the most fun I have is checking the stats on people who stop by here; mostly, what search terms they use and somehow they find me.

"24", Jack Bauer, and Audrey Raines were the big winners over the past several months. I look forward to several more. :)

But before I sleep......

...told Bonnie of this idea at Busch Gardens today.

I don't know if the pharmaceutical companies are bound to any specific regulations as to how they name all these drugs, but.....

...if they have a say, why wouldn't someone market their next bladder control medication for men as.....

"Stopapee"?

Well??

What? He took ANOTHER day off??

Whoa! He might actually take all of his vacation days this year. :)

We went to Busch Gardens--Williamsburg, VA today and had a wonderful time; Robbie on the Apollo's Chariot, Rachel on Tradewind and the Swings, and all of us on the Log Flume and the Roman Rapids, 'cuz you gotta get wet on a summer afternoon!

My Chuck Taylors are still wet as I sit here. :)

Lots of weird, stupid things going on, listening to "newscasts". Some are, others not. Like tonight, the King of CNN (sorry, Larry), Anderson Cooper, asked these questions as a teaser for the next segment.....

"Senator Joe Lieberman filed as an Independent for the Connecticut Senate Race today. What does this mean for Joe Lieberman? What does it mean for the Democratic Party?"

Answers:

1) It means Joe Lieberman is running for his Senate seat as an independent.
2) It means the Democrats are not happy. They have to figure out how to deal with him and whoever the Republicans throw in there. The reporter for ABC's Nightline last night said it best, that they'll do anything possible to get him out of the race.

But....ah.....CNN.....give me the facts and about three minutes, and I could, I hope, figure this out, and, you wouldn't be back from commercial yet. :)

Tongue in cheek here....but only some. I just get tired of the news networks treating me like I know nothing. Please......

Lots more to go over, but not now. I GOTTA GO TO BED; but I first must dry my feet.

:)

Billy Graham, Teen Sex, and NBC Sunday Night Football.....

ITEM: Study says sexual lyrics prompt teens to have sex.

I have never understood why anyone wouldn't come to this natural conclusion. I mean, did you just pull into a McDonalds one day, not knowing what it was, just to see if they served food or furniture? No, I suspect you either heard a commercial or were once a five year old in desperate need of an order of fries.

Commercials (and I oughta know) are only for one purpose: to get you to buy the product. Thus, you respond to the "call to action" in the ad, like, eat at Joe's, run to Jane's for their winter coat sale, etc.

Only, in the case of the above, the "call to action" is, well, have some sex. And in today's teen world, I understand this can be a wide open term. Is it actual "sex" as we know it to be? Is it oral? Is it touching? Are they really "dating", or are they part of this phenomemon calling "F-Buddies". No, I ain't publishing the F.

One way or another, though the music doesn't FORCE, nor is it the ONLY call to action teens face concerning sex (ah, movies, TV, hormones, friends, peer pressure all come to mind), it is one.

To deny that is simply sticking your head in the sand.

The most telling part of the article to me was the following:

---Natasha Ramsey, a 17-year-old from New Brunswick, N.J., said she and other teens sometimes listen to sexually explicit songs because they like the beat.

"I won't really realize that the person is talking about having sex or raping a girl," she said. Even so, the message "is being beaten into the teens' heads," she said. "We don't even really realize how much."---

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Excuse me? Sex, yeah, but, rape?? Rape?? And you don't know? Later in the article, check out the lame excuse from Benjamin Chavis (see article for his title) who says the lyrics reflect "...social and economic realities."

That gives them a pass to promote rape? What's next, murder? Mass suicide? Many horrible things are, sadly part of our reality in this world, but decent human beings would choose not to sing about them. And, even if they're using the song to stand against one of these events, if their message isn't clear cut and in your face, I suggest it shouldn't have been done in the first place.

When I was in high school, we had some songs with "overtones"...some I caught, and some I didn't.

I hated the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself" for blatantly obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, I sang along to Cyndi Lauper's "She-Bop", having no idea she was singing about, well, the exact same thing.

Even to this day I'm discovering songs I liked in high school, and when my feeble 39 year old mind realizes its real meaning, it goes off my playlist....hopefully....and sometimes I fail.

American Bandstand was a cultural icon for at least two generations of teens. But there is one negative "term" that came out of it.....

"It's got a good beat and I can dance to it."

Teens really didn't listen to the social implication of the song, whether personal or global. For heaven's sake they only played a hook.

Parents, and I have a 14 year old, do NOT just let your kids just listen to anything. Check out the lyrics with them before you go to the store to buy a CD for them, or they buy it with their $$$. Go online and read them. Talk about them. You'll be surprised how much, at some point in life, they will appreciate it.

See why I fill my kids with fun 80s music and Christian rock?

Now, I'm trying to figure out---where did I go wrong with Rachel? I never endorsed country music.....:)

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ITEM: Billy Graham.....THIS is a must-read. Period. At 87, he continues to show great humility, and set a wonderful standard for believers everywhere.

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FINAL ITEM: Sunday Night Football on NBC. It was REALLY strange to see Bob Costas and Al Michaels (not to mention John Madden) on the same screen during a football game. Being a HUGE follower of news and sports anchors, play-by-play guys, etc., I saw last night as one of those moments I "thought I'd never see".

But, in this era of billion dollar rights contracts, I shouldn't be as surprised as I should. Anyway, a couple of SNF points and one additional as I get ready for bed.

1) I hope they're saving some impressive stuff for the season opener September 7th. I'm not talking about ridiculous, needless bells and whistles that reduces NFL coverage to that of a circus. I hate that. But last night's telecast seemed to be a "first dry run" for them, too. Being that they haven't aired an NFL game since Super Bowl 32 in January, 1998, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

2) The main score, clock, down and to go graphics at the bottom of the screen were a little hard to read. I don't know, too much silver? Hey, so long as I can figure out those basic needs to know where a game is, I'll live, so, this is a minor picky point.

3) Did Al Michaels have note cards posted all around him that said "NBC" with the "N" underlined ten times?? And how weird was it to hear him even say "NBC". He will make a tremendous addition to NBC Olympic coverage beginning in 2008.

FINALLY----that point that has little or nothing to do with SNF on NBC....but....

Is Joe Buck placing himself at Fox in the same position Brent Musburger was at CBS when, ah, Brent was suddenly shown the door? Admit it, CBS Sports from 1975 to 1990 was "all Brent, all the time".

Fox circa 2006 is Joe Buck, Joe Buck, and....it's a good thing he doesn't call NASCAR. He, if things go his way, is on the way to being the voice of sports for this decade, and two or three more if he wishes. My kids will look at Joe Buck in football like I did Pat Summerall, and in baseball like Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek.

Good luck, Joe; you are a tremendous talent! Keep listening to dad, you'll be fine.

Happy August!! Then, happy august......

I thought my cycling every hour on the hour was gone.

Apparently, it's still possible.

Good morning, struggle midday, good afternoon and evening, crappy night.

Need more sleep? Yes. Got suddenly overwhelmed at work today? Yes.

Other issues drowning my mind? Goodness, yes!

Well, Rob, NO WONDER you're cycling at the speed of 60 Minutes.

I hope your day began a "Happy August!!!", rather than the latter. :)